Zac looked at the bathroom door, longing to open it. Ricki had been in there for over an hour. He hadn't heard a single peep the entire time.
My god, she must be scared. Hell, I'm scared. What am I going to tell my parents? What if she IS pregnant? It's been awful quiet in there....she must be a mess. What if she's trying to commit suicide?
Zac's mind raced with what ifs for a few minutes before he got up the courage to get up and knock on the door.
"What?" She asked. Her voice was quiet and shaky, unlike anything he had ever heard her say before.
"Are...Are you okay?" He asked.
"Yes Zac, I'm peachy." She said sarcastically.
"Can I come in?" He asked timidly.
He heard her move around for a few moments, sniff, then the door swung open and Ricki stalked out. Her face was still red and splotchy like she had been crying.
She sat down on his bed, pulling her knees up to her chest.
Zac walked over and sat down on her bed, just across from her. She stared numbly at his messy blue comforter.
"So...." He said, looking at her.
She looked up, her eyes fresh with a new set of tears. "So what?"
Zac thought a moment; he had to choose his words carefully.
"Are you.....going to take a test or something?"
Ricki sighed and scowled. "No, I'm not going to go to take a test. You can't tell yet." She ran her hand through her stringy hair.
"Can you?" She asked, looking up.
Zac opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. "I....I....dont' know." He said.
Ricki sighed. "This is just great. You don't know anymore than I do."
Zac winced. "Yeah."
Ricki wiped her eyes for what seemed like the millionth time that day. "I can't believe this. How could this happen? I've always been so careful."
"Me too." Zac said.
"How could things get so screwed up?"
Zac shrugged. Ricki felt herself start to see red.
"Of course." She said, throwing her hands up in the air. She got up off his bed and started to pace.
"What?" Zac asked, looking at her.
"This. This!" She shouted.
"You don't have to yell." He said, wincing.
"Yes, Zac, yes I do!" She yelled. "This....I should have seen this coming."
Zac was terribly confused and scared. "Seen what coming?"
"You! You don't care!"
"Ricki, yeah I do-"
"No! no, you don't. I could be....pregnant..." The word came out of her mouth and left a sour taste. "...and you don't even care!"
"Ricki, I-"
"Just shut up! You have no idea what I'm going through! You're just some rockstar who's going to be whisked away at the end of the year, and you never have to come back here ever again if you don't want to."
Zac opened his mouth to speak, but she held up her hand.
"I'm not done. This...happens, and then you have the nerve to just sit there and shrug like you don't even care! You don't understand! If I'm pregnant, my life is over!"
"So is mine!" He yelled, jumping up. "It's my life too!"
"But you don't even care! Zac, what are we going to do?"
"Look, just calm down-"
"No I will NOT calm down!" She screamed, throwing a few notebooks off her desk. "I can't calm down when I just got drunk and had sex with the one person who annoys me most in life and now I could be pregnant!"
"I hate this!" He yelled.
"So do I!"
"No." he said. He stalked over to her. "You keep acting like you're the only person who's life might change."
"But it is! You're the one who can just walk out of here tomorrow, unscathed!" She said.
"No I can't! I couldn't do that, I couldn't live with myself."
"I doubt that."
"No, just listen. My life might change too. It's nearly the same for me. I didn't mean to get that drunk. I didn't mean to sleep with you, and I certainly didn't mean to do it unprotected!" He said, throwing his arms up in the air.
"But you did!" She screamed, starting to cry again. She felt hot with anger as she watched him page and yell in front of her.
"Yeah, well it takes two to tango, Ricki!" He yelled. He wordlessly grabbed his jacket and left, slamming the door behind him. Ricki was only able to sit frozen in her deskchair as tears slid numbly down her flushed cheeks.
Zac stalked out to the parking lot and found his car, then got in it, slamming the door once he was in. He cranked up the radio, then peeled out of the campus parking lot, tires squealing. He didn't know where he was going; he just drove. Buildings and other cars flashed by as he sped down the streets. After driving around for about twenty minutes, he found himself near a park. He recognized it as a park where he sometimes went in the fall to play basketball with some of his guy friends.
He pulled in, winding through the nearly empty, grassy areas. He stopped his car after finding a good spot, then got out. It was an overcast day, and it was mid afternoon.
Looks like rain.... He noticed. Perfect...just to match my mood.
He walked over to a pond and found a grassy area that was on a small hill overlooking the pong. He sat down crosslegged, and rested his head on his hand.
What am I going to do? What if she's pregnant? My parents are going to be so dissappointed in me....
He found a few pieces of gravel and started mechanically chucking them into the lake.
My mom will be a mess....my dad will be upset...they'll both be dissappointed in me. What will Ike and Tay say? What will all the fans think?
That was something he hadnt' thought about in a long time. The fans. They would go nuts. His older brothers had tried dating a few times, but as soon as it got even remotely serious, the fans would start to get to the girl, and she would break it off.
What will Ricki do? I can't just leave her. Ignore her and the baby. My baby. Our baby.
Whoa, slow down, he told himself. It hadn't even been twenty four hours. They didn't even know if she was pregnant yet. It would take awhile, he was pretty sure.
Will Ricki expect me to support her and the baby? Where will they live? Will I live with them? I want to be a good dad. Dad. Father. Daddy...
It was around six o clock when Zac finally decided to leave. He had somewhat of a plan, or at least an idea of what to do. He had to. He might be a daddy.